Blessed Be
by Echo1317
Summary: Spoilers for Tempted! 'He couldn't think. There was something he needed to remember, he knew, something important, but he couldn't quite figure it out just then.


**A/N** Hi! This is my first HoN fanfic (and hopefully not my last), and I think it's ok, so I decided to post it.

Just a note for anyone who is reading Just An Illusion or Dirty Little Secret, I have not abandoned them, I promise! I have horrible writer's block for those two stories, but I'm working on it. 

_Welcome, child._

The woman's voice was warm, thoughtful, filling the boy's mind like a cloud as he regained consciousness, if you could call it that. He couldn't feel his body, he couldn't even open his eyes, but he could hear that voice. He smelled warm sunshine, and summer grass that the breeze stirred around him. He couldn't think. There was something he needed to remember, he knew, something important, but he couldn't quite figure it out just then. Something important…

"Where am I?" He heard himself ask groggily, although he didn't recall making himself speak.

_You are in the Otherworld, Heath Luck._

"Is that my name?" He asked, his voice seeming thick and a whole world away, "Am I dead?"

_I am sorry, Heath. You are dead._

Heath's mind went silent. This was what death felt like- not bad, he thought, kind of like the Twilight Zone. He wondered who the woman was.

_I am Nyx. _

"Zoey's Goddess," Heath reiterated, remembering the way his love had spoken with such respect for this entity. A sense of panic built in him at the thought of Zoey, but he couldn't tell why. There was no reason to be afraid. Everything was peaceful here, he didn't know how he knew it, but he did. A new thought struck him, and he couldn't help but voice his concerns. "Why am I here?"

_You are here because you are no longer alive, Heath._

"But why did you take me?" He tried to rephrase his question in a way she might understand, "I'm not a vampyre or a fledgling or anything."

_No, you are not. But you are still one of my children. You have been remarkably loyal to my High Priestess, and through her you have been loyal to me. _

"Oh," He said. Silence and warmth engulfed him, although it was a comforting sort of silence. He was beginning to be able to feel his fingertips, and he moved them just slightly, enough to feel that he was laying on the ground atop a bed of soft, thick grass. It almost felt like the grass in his backyard, where he'd laid watching the stars so many nights with Zoey when they were kids. The nagging feeling came back, but he ignored it, content to be where he was, wiggling his bare toes and enjoying the feeling of the breeze tousling his hair.

"Will I see her again?" He asked solemnly, knowing that the Goddess's answer would most likely be no, or not for a very long time. Z was a fledgling- she would become a vampire and live for hundreds of years before she came to the Otherworld.

_Yes. Very soon._

Heath slowly say up, his eyes still closed. Did time pass more quickly here? Would these few minutes he had spent speaking to the Goddess equate to Zoey's whole lifetime in the real world?

_Do not be so quick to doubt which world is real and which is not. _

Heath nodded and mumbled a soft apology, feeling the heat rise into his cheeks as he blushed. He was more than a bit disappointed that he could still feel so embarrassed in the afterlife. Nyx's low, melodic laugh filled his head for the briefest second, leaving him with a renewed sense of peace.

_You will be seeing Zoey quite soon._

"What?"

Heath was finally able to open his eyes wide, and he gasped at the scene around him, even more gorgeous than he had been imagining. The ground beneath him was green and grassy, with sprays of flowers blooming all around. He was caught up in the glamour, watching twittering birds flitter from tree to huge tree. It looked like a place no person had ever set foot in before, and Heath's words appeared in front of him as a mist of blue, slowly fading into the air around him as the wind sighed again…

He could hear his memory repeating to him what Zoey told him so often: _Heath, focus._

"She's-" He swallowed hard against the tears that were pooling in his eyes, "She's dead, too?"

_When you fell, her soul shattered with you._

"But that can't happen!" He cried, his vision blurring the beauty around him. His face was wet with tears, which he scrambled to wipe away. His hands were moving slowly as if he was underwater, and before they reached his face, thin, white fingers brushed them away, and he gasped yet again. He looked up quickly, into the sweet, loving eyes of the Goddess Nyx.

She was more beautiful than anyone (except Z) that he had ever set eyes upon, her grace and power almost tangible in the air around her. She was young and fair, her face glowing. She wore a sleek, silver dress that radiated light, or was the light coming from her? Heath couldn't tell. The tears came faster, from grief for the girl he loved and wonder at finally being able to see this wondrous being.

_Do not weep, child, all will be well again._

"How?" Was all he could whisper, reveling in his sorrow and the way the Goddess's fingers left cool paths where they touched him. She gave him a grim look.

_She must return to the realm of the living._

Heath knew what she was going to say before she told him.

_And you must let her go._

With a shaky breath, Heath nodded his head sadly, allowing Nyx to clear his face of tears. He was surprised when she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

_There is one more service you must provide me with._

Heath's forehead stung, and he closed his eyes in pain. Wind rushed around him, bringing new scents of water. When Heath opened his eyes once more, slowly this time, he saw that he was no longer in the meadow, but on a river bank with a fishing pole in his hand. Following his instincts, he drew the rod back and let it fly into the water, smiling at the familiar sound of the _plop_ as the hook burst through the surface. Behind him, a twig snapped. He smiled as the Goddess whispered once more in his head.

_You have done well so far, Heath Luck. You are truly blessed. _

FIN

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Please review!

-Echo1317


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